It is not a grand crossing; the single pointed arch spans just 2.4 metres, and the full bridge width is only 5 metres. What makes it quietly arresting is the evidence of how it was built. The arch retains traces of wicker centring, the temporary framework of woven branches over which medieval masons laid the stonework and which was then removed once the mortar had set. It is rare to see that kind of constructional trace survive at all.

The bridge almost certainly carried the carriageway that connected the abbey gatehouse to the wider world, crossing what was most likely a drainage channel running from the abbey itself down to the Tintern stream. Tintern Abbey was founded as a Cistercian house, an order known for its methodical approach to water management, and drainage channels of this kind were a practical feature of Cistercian planning. The channel here would have helped keep the monastic precinct dry and functional. The bridge, modest as it is, was therefore part of the working infrastructure of a medieval religious community rather than a ceremonial or decorative structure.